NPC Briefs

China will master the technology to send astronauts to the moon in the next 15 years, a top scientist with the manned space project said yesterday. Huang Chunping, also a CPPCC delegate, told Xinhua a new generation of launch vehicles would be developed in the next seven to eight years to service the mainland's planned space station. He said the launch vehicle, dubbed Changzheng V, would be able to carry up to 25 tonnes, 16 tonnes more than the previous design. Mr Huang also said the mainland's first lunar satellite, Chang'e 1, would be launched in the second half of this year and the Shenzhou VII manned space vehicle would lift off next year.

don't overpay for land public needs, says expert

A prominent economist said it was unreasonable to determine compensation payable for land acquisition according to market property prices. Wu Jinglian - who is also a CPPCC delegate - was quoted by the Information Times as saying urbanisation was made possible by the efforts of a cross-section of society and thus a property's original owners should not be the only ones to enjoy the benefits of the process. He suggested setting up urbanisation funds and levying taxes on the profits of land acquisition to help distribute the fruits of the process.

learn from hu, congress chief tells shanghai

NPC Standing Committee chairman Wu Bangguo urged officials in Shanghai to improve themselves and honour eight good practices proposed by President Hu Jintao , Xinhua reported. Mr Wu, who joined the Shanghai NPC delegation yesterday to review the government work report, also asked the city to advance its capacity in technological innovation and adjust its economic structure.

law change sought to punish same-sex rapists

A lawmaker from Ningbo , Fan Yi, a professor at Ningbo University, has called for judicial interpretation or amendment of the Criminal Law so that those who rape members of their own sex face the same penalties as those who rape members of the opposite sex, Xinhua reported. Without a legal basis to punish such offenders as rapists, courts often give them light sentences.

paralysed dam activist appeals to npc chairman

Fu Xiancai , an activist working to help villagers displaced by the giant Three Gorges Dam, who was left paralysed after a beating in June, has appealed to NPC Standing Committee chairman Wu Bangguo for justice, rights group Human Rights in China said. Mr Fu demanded justice for the brutal beating after meeting police in Zigui county in central Hubei province .

farmers on the calendar

Thirty-seven Jiangsu NPC delegates have proposed designating September 1 Farmers' Day to honour the group that accounts for more than 70 per cent of the population, the Farmers' Daily reported. They proposed the date because it was in autumn, the harvest season.